Safety pin

ABSTRACT

A safety pin in which the back and front legs are resiliently biassed apart. The back leg extends to form one arm of a U-shaped end loop, the other arm of which has a guide slot associated therewith to receive the pointed end of the front leg. A band on the end loop is movable to an end position at which it encircles the pin point in the closed position thereof, and including a coil spring on the end loop resiliently urging the band to the said end position.

United States Patent [191 Zamotin SAFETY PIN [76] Inventor: Rodvinon I. Zamotin, PO. Box 721,

Miami Springs, Fla. 33166 [22] Filed: Sept. 1, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 285,642

[52] US. Cl......, 24/158 S [51] Int. Cl A44b 9/10 [58] Field of Search 24/158 S, 162

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 360,276 3/1887 Carpenter 24/158 S 1,166,885 1/1916 Brell 24/158 S 1,188,956 6/1916 Little 24/158 S FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS France 24/158 S Jan. 8, 1974 Primary Examiner-Donald A. Griffin A "my: L rsen TQYJQFFESlH JEE [57] ABSTRACT A safety pin in which the back and front legs are resiliently'biassed apart. The back leg extends to form one arm of a U-shaped end loop, the other arm of which has a guide slot associated therewith to receive the pointed end of the front leg. A band on the end loop is movable to an end position at which it encircles the pin point in the closed position thereof, and'including a coil spring on the end loop resiliently urging the band to the said end position.

5 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures Pmmium 8l974 3,783,475

MET 101 2 SAFETY PIN BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to safety pins, and in particular it relates to a new and improved closure means for a safety pin.

While conventional safety pins of course fulfill the basic function of guarding the pointed tip when the'pin is in use-as compared, for example with a straight pin-it nonetheless suffers from several disadvantages, especially when used on a person such as for se sr ns di p r on a b One problem of the conventional safety pin that it can open accidentally. Another problem is a dangerous intentional" opening of the pin by an infant who may be able to grasp the pin and throughvarious involuntary movements cause it to open. This problem has i been recognized heretofore and as a solution therefor,

to use one hand for steadying the infant and positioning the diaper, leaving only one hand free to manipulate and close the safety pin.

Other improved safety pins are known having rela tively simple locking means, which pins can be closed and locked or unlocked and opened with one hand. However, these safety pins suffer from the disadvantage that the various manipulative movements are so simple that an infant manipulating the pin might well cause it to open.

Thus, there exists a need for a new andimproved safety pin having an improved locking means, the opening movements of which are sufficiently complex so that the child of diaper-wearing age could not possibly open the safety pin while concurrently the closing movements are so simple that the user can easily and successfully close the pin while manipulating it wit just one hand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thus, it is a purpose of the present invention to provide a new and improved safety pin which overcomes the disadvantages of presently known safety pins.

According to the present invention, there is provided an arrangement in which a safety pin having front and rear legs resiliently biassed apart includes an end loop in the form ofa U, one arm of which is coextensive with the back leg of the pin while the other arm of the U is curved around and positioned to cooperate with a guide slot to receive the pointed tip of the front leg of the safety pin. A band is provided on this end loop and a spring also located on the end loop biasses the band around the end loop such that it encircles the pointed tip to prevent accidental opening of the same. Opening of the safety pin requires moving the hand against the resilient bias of the coil spring about the end loop so as to free the pointed tip of the pin after which the pointed tip can be moved against its normal outward bias out of the said guide slot. Preferably the safety pin includes a brace member fixed to the back leg of thepin and extending forwardly to form said guide slot.

This safety pin has a number of significant advantages over previously known safety pins. First, it retains the advantages of simplicity and effortless operation. The effort required to open or close thepin is negligible and operation is simple as there are. no deliberate motions necessary to move the point through a maze of movements to open it. Nonetheless the safety pin achieves the advantage of being foolproof against accidental opening since, owing to its unique construction, it requires a definite synchronization of both hands, to open the pin. This of course could not be accomplished by a child of diaper-wearingage. Concurrent with these advantages, however, is the advantage of ease of opening and closing. When open, the pin can be handled in a normalmanner and the pin can. be closed with just one hand by simply inserting the pointed tip in the guide slot oh the outside of the band and then moving the band upwardly, permitting the pointed tip to move resiliently all the way into the guide slot, after which the band can be released to again encircle the pointed tip of the closed safety pin.

Thus, it is a purpose of this invention to provide an improvedsafety pin.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved safety pin in which the pointed tip is securely held against accidental opening when the pin is closed and wherein a definite synchronization of both hands is required to open the pin but wherein the open pin can be handled in the normal manner and closed with just one hand, and wherein all opening and closing movements are virtually effortless.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved safety pin in which the opening and closing movements are virtually effortless but wherein the chances of unintentional opening are virtually eliminated.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved safety pin of the type wherein the front and rear legs are resiliently. urged away from each other and wherein an end loop has one arm extensive with the back leg of the pin and the other arm constructed to receive a guide slot for receiving the pointed tip of the front leg, and wherein a band on this end loop is spring biassed to encircle and hence secure the pointed tip of the pin.

other objects and the advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed deseription to follow, together with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS There follows a detailed description of the preferred embodiments to be read together with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the pin showing the same in the open position.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are partial side elevational views similar to FIG. 1 but showing only the head portion of the pin wherein FIG. 2 illustrates the elements of the pin at a stage during the closing thereof and FIG. 3 illustrates the head of the pin in the closed position.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D illustrate in sequence, respectively, four steps in manipulating the pin of the present invention with two hands to open the same.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D illustrate schematically successive steps, respectively, required to close the pin with one hand.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, like numerals are represented by like elements throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 illustrates the pin 10 in the opened position. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a single piece of spring wire stock forms the major portion of the pin extending from a pointed tip 11a of the front leg 11 through a coiled spring section 12 to a back leg 13 which extends up and around in a U-shape to form an end loop 14 ending at 15. Adjacent end 15, the loop 14 has a slot 14a formed therein to receive the end 11a of the front leg 11. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, a brace member 16 is fixed to the back leg 13 by a suitable means. For example, in the present embodiment the brace wraps around the back leg 13 and is attached to itself by a spot weld 17. This brace extends towards the end of the U-shaped end loop 14 and extends thereabout to form a guide 18 which receives the pointed tip 11a of the pin in the closed position thereof.

In the closed position when the pointed tip 11a is located in slot 14a, it is normally embraced by a hollow cylindrical slidable band 19 which slides along the end loop 14. A coil spring 20 wrapped around the end loop 14 urges the band 19 to the point embracing position where it rests against the end of guide 18 which thus also acts as a stop means for the band 19.

FIG. 2 differs from FIG. 1 in the position of the elements. The band 19 is held to the left against the force of spring 20 at which time the pointed tip 11a is placed into the slot 14a. Owing to its natural resilient outward bias, it stays in the slot 14a. When the pointed tip 11a is in this position, the band 19 is simply released at which time it embraces the pointed tip 11a as shown in FIG. 3.

While the structure of the present invention will be apparent from the preceding discussion, the manner of manipulating the new improved safety pin and hence its advantages will become more clear from the further FIGS. 5A-5D and 6A-6D.

FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate the procedure for opening the pin. In FIG. 5A the pin is about to be opened. The thumbs must be placed together. This shows that opening of the pin requires a deliberate action but no complicated manuevering or manipulation of the pin parts. In FIG. 5B, the lefthand thumb has moved the band 19 to the left, clearing the slot 14a and hence clearing the pointed tip 11a thus freeing the front leg 11 for removal from the slot 14a and the guide 18. In FIG. 5C, while the band 19 is held to the left by the left thumb, the right thumb lifts the front leg 11 out of the guide 18. Between FIGS. 5C and 5D, the front leg 11 is moved towards the viewer, (to the left in FIG. 4) clear of the guide 18, after which the front leg 11 is released so that its natural outward bias will move it to the open position as shown in FIG. 5D.

In its open position, the improved pin of the present invention can be handled in precisely the same manner as a standard safety pin. This is in contrast with some safety pins devised with special safety convenience features wherein the structure has been so modified relative to a conventional safety pin that an entirely different type of manipulation is required.

FIGS. 6A-6D illustrate the procedure in closing the safety pin. In FIG. 6A the pin is held in quite the same manner as shown in FIG. 5D but in this case only the right hand is shown since only one hand is required to close the safety pin. Moving from FIG. 6A to FIG. 6B, the user pushes the front leg 11 up into the guide 18 where its outward resilience forces it against the outside of band 19 which at that time is being urged to its rightward rest position against guide 18 by means of spring 20. The front leg 11 can then be released as the thumb moves the band 19 to the left as shown in FIG. 6C. The outward resilience of the band 11 then causes it to move outwardly into slot 14a as shown in FIG. 6C. The user then simply releases the band 19 which then moves to the right under the force of spring 20 to secure the tip 11a of the front leg 1 l as shown in FIG. 6D. It will be evident that only the simplest movements are required to close the safety pin. For example, the effort required to move the band 19 to the left in FIG. 6C may be very slight.

It will therefore be seen that the improved safety pin of the present invention has important advantages over existing safety pins. It will be seen that very little effort is required to manipulate the pin and that the movements, while relatively complicated for an infant of diaper-wearing age, i.e., the requirement to synchronize both hands, is really quite simplified for an adult. It will further been seen that the safety pin of the present invention can be handled in the same manner as a conventional safety pin and that it can be safely and securely closed with one hand.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be apparent that the invention is capable of numerous modifications and variations apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope-of the invention.

I claim:

1. A safety pin comprising:

a front leg and a back leg, said legs being resiliently biassed away from each other,

said front leg having a pointed tip, said back leg having a head thereon in the form of a U-shaped end loop, one arm of which U-shaped loop is an extension of the back leg, and the U curving around towards the front leg so that the other arm of the U is closer to the front leg of the pin than the said one arm of the U,

means forming a slot in the vicinity of the end of the said other arm of the U-shaped loop, which slot is arranged to receive said pointed tip of the front leg of the pin to hold the pin against the resilient force urging the said front and back legs away from each other,

a band on and slidable along the end loop,

a coil spring wrapped around the end loop, one end of said spring being at a fixed position and the other end of said spring acting against the band to urge the band to a rest position over the slot to prevent the pointed tip from moving out of the slot and a stop means for stopping the band in said rest position,

said band being slidable along the end loop in opposition to the force of the spring means to a position free of the pointed tip so that the front leg can be freed from the slot to open the pin,

and including a brace member of flat rigid material fixed at a first point to the rear leg of the safety pin and extending from said first point to the vicinity of the said other arm of the U-shaped end loop, said one end of the coiled spring abutting the brace member at said first point, and the portion of the brace member in the vicinity of the other arm forming said stop means for the band, said brace member forming a U-shaped guide for the front leg of the pin in the vicinity of the slot.

2. A safety pin according to claim 1, said brace member having a first side and a second side, the first side extending across the open end of the U-shaped end loop, the guide extending in one piece from the first side around the said other arm of the end loop to the said second side, said second side extending generally parallel to the first side but stopping short of the said first point to thus form with said first side an opening facing the back leg of the pin for receiving the front leg inwardly of the pointed tip thereof.

3. A safety pin according to claim 2, wherein when the front leg is in the slot means, said pointed tip extends into the end loop beyond the guide, and said band, in its said rest position rests against the guide as it encircles the pointed tip.

4. A safety pin according to claim 1, said front and back legs and said U-shaped end loop all being formed from a single piece of spring wire stock which includes a coil spring section at the ends of the legs remote from the end loop for resiliently urging the legs apart.

5. A safety pin according to claim 1, said slot means being a groove formed into the end of said other arm of the U-shaped end loop. 

1. A safety pin comprising: a front leg and a back leg, said legs being resiliently biassed away from each other, said front leg having a pointed tip, said back leg having a head thereon in the form of a U-shaped end loop, one arm of which Ushaped loop is an extension of the back leg, and the U curving around towards the front leg so that the other arm of the U is closer to the front leg of the pin than the said one arm of the U, means forming a slot in the vicinity of the end of the said other arm of the U-shaped loop, which slot is arranged to receive said pointed tip of the front leg of the pin to hold the pin against the resilient force urging the said front and back legs away from each other, a band on and slidable along the end loop, a coil spring wrapped around the end loop, one end of said spring being at a fixed position and the other end of said spring acting against the band to urge the band to a rest position over the slot to prevent the pointed tip from moving out of the slot and a stop means for stopping the band in said rest position, said band being slidable along the end loop in opposition to the force of the spring means to a position free of the pointed tip so that the front leg can be freed from the slot to open the pin, and including a brace member of flat rigid material fixed at a first point to the rear leg of the safety pin and extending from said first point to the vicinity of the said other arm of the U-shaped end loop, said one end of the coiled spring abutting the brace member at said first point, and the portion of the brace member in the vicinity of the other arm forming said stop means for the band, said brace member forming a Ushaped guide for the front leg of the pin in the vicinity of the slot.
 2. A safety pin according to claim 1, said brace member having a first side and a second side, the first side extending across the open end of the U-shaped end loop, the guide extending in one piece from the first side around the said other arm of the end loop to the said second side, said second side extending generally parallel to the first side but stopping short of the said first point to thus form with said first side an opening facing the back leg of the pin for receiving the front leg inwardly of the pointed tip thereof.
 3. A safety pin according to claim 2, wherein when the front leg is in the slot means, said pointed tip extends into the end loop beyond the guide, and said band, in its said rest position rests against the guide as it encircles the pointed tip.
 4. A safety pin according to claim 1, said front and back legs and said U-shaped end loop all being formed from a single piece of spring wire stock which includes a coil spring section at the ends of the legs remote from the end loop for resiliently urging the legs apart.
 5. A safety pin according to claim 1, said slot means being a groove formed into the end of said other arm of the U-shaped end loop. 